Thursday, January 11, 2007

Last week, I did what could only be called a glowing ad for tourism for Philadelphia. So this week its Thirteen Things that Stink about Philadelphia.

1.Mayor Street-He has been elected to mayor twice and the city has actually had more scandals in City Hall during that time then at the time before. The discovery of a FBI bug in his office actually might have helped him in his reelection campaign. Now that is taking lemons and turning them into lemonade.

2.The Fans and their reputation- I said last week that the fans live and die for there teams. They still show up even when the teams kind of stink. But, usually when the teams stink the fans show up to throw things and abuse out of town fans. I received a Favre jersey for my birthday, and I would have been nuts to wear it to the Monday Night game vs the Eagles, even if I rooted for the Eagles. I might have found myself hanging by my ankles from the upper deck.

3.Construction on 95-Now while it is not as bad as the disaster that is the major highways along the Connecticut coast around Bridgeport, its still a mess. They have been working on it for the 4 years I have been here and I still dont see any kind of end game in sight.

4.The Curse of William Penn-Its said that the city's forefathers made an agreement that no building would be larger then the William Penn statue at the top of city hall. And that when Liberty One and Two were completed, they started a curse that causes all the sports teams to lose at the most painful time. Now, I dont believe in curses like this really, but the teams in Philly do find a way to lose all the worst ways. And look what happened to Smarty Jones, 10 feet from a triple crown and he runs out of gas. That was the first time I really felt the pain of being a Philly sports fan.

5.City Wage Tax-Ok, I dont get it totally, but I do understand that if you live in the city or work in the city, you get a little bit taken out of your paycheck just for the power of living and working in the city. Doesnt that just sound great??

6.Philadelphia Airport/USAir-This is really a rant about USAir. They pretty much own the airport, because they have the most flights and have the most jobs. And really, all airlines have an awful time of staying on time, but one of the biggest gripes recently with USAir is the fact that there baggage handling is terrible. There have been reports that people have gotten off of planes, and flights that have landed 2 hours behind them have gotten there bags first because they flew with a different airline. Heck its happened to the Duck family. But, how does this involve the Airport itself? Well, they are like the landlords and USAir is the renter. Eventually as a tenant if you continue to have complaints for noise against you, dont you hear from your landlord?? Well, the Airport Association just chooses to let USAir get away with whatever they want. Its one time where heading to Newark is a better idea.

7.No Good Radio Stations-when Y100 went off the air, there was an outcry from many of the listeners in the area, because they were being replaced with another rap station, which would make for the 5th one in the listening area. And now there was no modern music. So far the only saving grace has been that most of the airstaff and some of there ideas on music have moved to WMMR, but I still cant listen to a good Goo Goo Dolls song around here without my Ipod.

8. I just want to make something perfectly clear, we all dont Talk like Rocky down here!!

9.If you think the Radio in Philly is bad, just watch the news!!. There is only one good newscast. You cant watch KYW because Larry Mendte is a smug, arrogant, arsehole. You cant watch NBC10 news because Hurrican Schwartz cant forecast his way out of a paperbag and he is the number one weatherman on that station. Plus, he insists on wearing a very distracting bowtie. So, its Action News or nowhere. Luckily, Jim Gardner is the man and Cecily is well, mmmm Cecily.

10.Moshulu-Yes, it has a nice view. But the food is overpriced and overrated and certainly not worth the view. Yet, somehow this place keeps getting 4 stars.

11.The accent is weird. Its one of those things that seems to fade in and out. Its not like the yawkee accent, or that sweet southern drawl. Its more like the people that have lived there lives here say some words with an extra o. Like Phooone and Hooome. Its just strange and takes some getting used to, or at least used to so you dont make fun of them. (I still do that though)

12.Conshohocken-I believe the town of Conshohocken is probably quite lovely, with the rolling hills and beautiful neighborhoods surrounding it. But, alot of the companies have left the city to avoid the wage tax and have moved to Conshohocken. So there are all these great jobs which are a bear to get too. You have to drive either Roosevelt Blvd (picture your main street with the street lights and the slow speed limit and then extend it by 20 miles) and then the Schukyll, which gets backed up if a bird lands on the road. And then add in some snow and you can see why alot of people just dont want to work in Conshy.

13.Comcast-they are the big gorilla in the city when it comes to the media and cable provider. So, they can charge an arm and a leg for poor service, poor choices, and poor products because they are the only ones. And forget about trying to get a local Comcast channel on your satellite TV, they hold onto them like a mother holds her young.

Honorable mentions to this bad good list:-Hoagies arent Sub Sandwiches-They cant make bagels-Camden, enough said-Mayor Street again, because he really is a boob

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

I think the sports fan issue is rampant in many cities. I remember having to be escorted by police after a football game in Winnipeg because we were cheering (and wearing jerseys) for the opposite team. The next week some fans attacked another out of town fan. I just don't get why fans feel the need to act like this. Sure, you want to support your team, but don't they understand that they're just making their home team look bad when they behave like this?

a boob. that's funny. and argh! our city has subpar radio stations too, it bugs me. two of my favorites have turned "rap" and i am beside myself. funny list! happy tt! and boooo usair! they threw out my sister's wine, that she CHECKED! boobs.

Great post. I didn't know about the William Penn curse and I am a rabid Philly sports fan -Sixers and Eagles. So, yes I have died 1,000 deaths. As far as radio stations go, you need to tune in to WXPN out of Penn. (88.5) Adult alternative, head rock often after 8 p.m. at night. Best eclectic collection of music I ever heard. That's my two cents anyway.

Hey, does Seton Hill's radio station still rock so hard? Can you pull that in? I have friends who used to DJ there... Can't remember the call letters for the life of me, but man, I'd have killed to work there.

And yes, I'm back. I figure if you can leave pro-Philly notes on my blog, I can bug you mercilessly until you realize the error of your ways. *grin*

I grew up in a nowhere town in Louisiana with no pro sports. It's easier to get to Dallas from the town I grew up in than it is to get to New Orleans. New Orleans has the Saints. Despite this years successes for them thus far, their history is pretty sad. I totally can't relate to being a big sports fan of a local team.

Sorry it was so easy to come up with 13 things bad about Philly.

Mayble you'll have to stretch your brain cells and try to come up with 13 good things next.

As someone who hails from Pittsburgh, this made me chuckle as I have been through Philly many times. Comcast is also big in Pittsburgh so don't think you're the only ones getting it where the sun don't shine.

Maybe it's time to take some of those taller buildings down for the sake of your Eagles! ;)

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

My Itunes

Followers

Here Kitty Kitty

MyBlogLog

Sparky Live

Yes indeed, its Sparky Duck live via the internets. So put sparky.duck@hotmail.com in your little address book if you have the MSN Messenger/Windows live. If your an AIM fan, look for sparkyducky. And say hello. Just dont send emails there